yep! This male guarded the female as she laid eggs. She showed signs of senescence - some poor body pattern expression, some arm break-down, and slow movements. The coral head was full of eggs- she'd been pretty busy. He hung within a few meters. We didn't see any other males, but the dive was almost over when we came across them, so didn't have much time to observe. Alas- it wasn't that kind of dive trip.

One of trip's goals was to help the National Park assess tourism potential. Stellar photographers Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock took the scooters and zipped around looking for good spots. The tough part of their task is- if they find one they have to keep going and look for the next. But I was able to get a little ceph time in (= slow moving) - some latimanus, S. papuensis, O. cyanea (all of which were nocturnal by the way!) and even a Wunderpus. Without luck we dove the type locality of Octopus membranaceous, which is a horrible mess taxonomically.